Time Stood Still
by klutzysunshine
Summary: AU. Rebecca gets pregnant when she and Sam are trying to have a baby and they try to navigate their feelings for each other afterwards.


**I don't own Cheers nor will I ever. No copyright infringement intended.**

 **Author's Note:** _Warning for some non-graphic childbirth scenes._

* * *

Rebecca yawned and leaned back in her chair, cursing the fatigue that came with pregnancy. At only nine weeks along, she still had a while to go yet and the exhaustion (coupled with the morning sickness) was dragging her down. But at least Sam helped out any way he could, even though she kept yelling at him for knocking her up in the first place. It had taken them four months to conceive and both were excited and terrified to meet their baby. The door opened just as her eyes started to flutter shut and she jumped up in surprise. "What's going on?" she asked.

"Just checking on you. You're fine, right?" Sam pressed.

She rolled her eyes at his antics. His concern had been touching at first (once the shock wore off from the news they were going to be parents, anyway) but now it was just annoying. "I was just about to fall asleep," Rebecca whined.

"Well, I got worried." Honestly not used to this, Sam panicked that something could go wrong every time Rebecca was out of earshot. He knew he needed to stop but hadn't quite be able to yet (the guys kept making fun of him for it but he didn't give a shit).

"Stop. We're fine," she told him through gritted teeth.

Sam gave her a quick hug then headed back out to the bar. "You really need to calm down. This is only the beginning," Carla chided once he rejoined them.

"I know that, Carla. But this is her first pregnancy. It's my kid in there. Forgive me for freaking out."

"Don't come crying to me when she kills you," Carla told him before a customer called her over to order some drinks.

"I won't!" Sam called back seconds before the worry kicked in again. Fortunately for him, Woody and Frasier held him back from returning to the office.

"Get ahold of yourself or she really will kill you!" Frasier scolded.

"Easy for you to say - you've already been through this once," Sam grumbled. He downed some water and tuned out Norm and Cliff's latest stupid conversation.

It wasn't going to be easy to navigate pregnancy and co-parenting but Sam and Rebecca were determined to do it.

* * *

They were in for the shock of their lives when an ultrasound later in her pregnancy revealed she was having twins. "Boy, you really went for it, didn't you?" Rebecca teased as they walked down the steps into the bar.

Sam sighed but grinned at her. "Yes, I did!" He was absolutely fucking terrified about parenthood and now he could potentially screw up two lives. How Carla didn't freak out daily about eight kids (plus a grandchild), he had no clue.

"How'd the appointment go?" Frasier questioned as soon as he laid eyes on them.

"Carla, you're going to want to be here for this," Rebecca informed her.

"Doubt it but okay." A disinterested Carla stared at them and waited for their news.

"Should I say it?" Rebecca asked.

"Let me," Sam pleaded, laughing.

"I'm doing it!" Rebecca turned to the crowd. "You'll be pleased to know that everything went well and _both_ babies are healthy." She waited impatiently for them to process their news.

Carla's reaction came first and she began cackling. "You hit a home run the first try, Sam! It took me seven pregnancies to get there but you knocked Rebecca up with twins during her first pregnancy. Good luck!" She sauntered away, still cackling.

"That's reassuring," Sam said, rubbing his face with his hand.

Rebecca burst into tears and threw herself into his arms. "We're so completely fucked," she sobbed.

"Sweetheart, weren't you happy about this less than five minutes okay? We got this." He hoped they did anyway.

"I am happy! But this is also terrifying," she told him, her breath hitching as her sobs started dying down just as quickly as they started.

These pregnancy hormones were terrifying and Sam feared for his life sometimes. "I agree. But we'll make it through this. If Carla can handle eight kids, we'll be fine with two." Was trying to think positively working? Sam hoped so but he really doubted it.

After closing the bar down later that night, they headed back to her apartment (he was spending more and more time there because his place didn't really feel like home anymore). "I'm not sure how I made it this long today. I'm dead on my feet," Rebecca admitted as she sat down on the couch next to him.

Sam looked over at her and something just clicked. He had been denying his feelings for a long time but couldn't hide behind lust or worry about her pregnancy anymore - he was head over heels in love with Rebecca and wanted to be with her. "Hey."

She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "What?"

Shit, was he really about to do this? But he needed to tell her how she felt, especially since she was the mother of his children. "I love you."

"That's sweet, Sam. I love you too." God, she just wanted to nap for the next fifty years.

"No, you misunderstood me. I am in love with you, Rebecca." His palms started to sweat and he started to fear that he had just fucked everything up.

Rebecca responded by smiling at him and then bursting into tears again. "I'm in love with you too, damn it. You're a pain in my ass but I want to be with you."

Sam responded by kissing her and then picking her up and taking her to bed when she started complaining that she needed sleep.

This wasn't what either of them had intended to happen when they decided to have a baby together but they didn't regret it.

* * *

By her seventh month of pregnancy, Rebecca couldn't wait to meet the two babies kicking up a storm in her uterus and keeping her awake when all she wanted to do was sleep. "You better be grateful that I put my body through this for you, Sam Malone," she sniped.

"I am every day."

"Don't be sweet - that only pisses me off even more." Rebecca glared at him and then sat down in one of the uncomfortable chairs.

"Sorry?" He'd keep apologizing to her because he felt really bad that she wasn't having the best or easiest pregnancy. Grateful they only had two months to go, Sam really couldn't wait until the twins were born and Rebecca was back to her normal neurotic self.

"Thank you." She cracked a smile before heaving herself up off the chair, kissing him, and then making her way to the office to take a nap on the couch.

* * *

Three weeks away from Rebecca's due date, Sam started hovering over her constantly and if he wasn't with her, one of their friends stayed by her side. "If you don't leave me alone, I will punch you," she threatened.

Carla snorted as she walked past them. "Good luck with that one. You can't even see your own feet."

"That's beside the point!" They were nearing the finish line of this pregnancy, and Rebecca just couldn't wait to meet the babies. Sam had officially moved into her apartment a month earlier and Norm had finally finished the nursery just two days earlier.

"Talk to me again after you've had the babies!" Carla called back.

About to tease her right back, Rebecca stopped dead in her tracks when a pain tore across her abdomen. She cried out in pain and grabbed Cliff's barstool to steady herself. "Ow," she murmured once the contraction died down.

"Are you in labor?" Sam prodded, his heart starting to pound. He couldn't even remember what he had been about to do next.

She glared at him and wanted to start yelling but another contraction hit and her water broke. "Sam!"

He bolted to her side. "I'm here. We need to get you to the hospital. Anybody want to drive us?" he asked in a panic. Sam knew there was no way he could drive.

Rebecca started shaking her head as her whole body began to shake. "I don't think I'm going to make it to the hospital."

Dead silence. "Somebody call an ambulance!" Sam barked. Frasier dove towards the phone and began dialing 911. "Let's get you back to the office," he gently whispered to Rebecca and then ushered Carla over to his side.

Fortunately for them, paramedics were close by and arrived just in time for Rebecca to deliver the first baby - a girl - into their arms. "I'm going to kill you," she hissed at Sam.

"I don't blame you." Time stood still for Sam and he couldn't keep his eyes off the newborn. Everything had slowed down for him the moment his daughter came into the world.

Sam held onto their daughter and Carla held Rebecca's hand as the paramedics loaded her into the ambulance. "It really hurts," she cried to them as another contraction welled up.

"Hey, you already delivered one baby in the bar - you beat me. I think the next one is going to be a piece of cake," Carla comforted.

"I'm a dad," Sam whispered in awe as he rocked the baby in his arms back and forth. He had never loved someone so fast and it was absolutely amazing and terrifying.

"And I'm a mom." Rebecca arched up and after a few more pushes, delivered another healthy baby girl seconds before they made it to the hospital. They checked over all three of them thoroughly before admitting her to a room.

An emotional Carla hugged Sam and briefly held both girls. "Congratulations, Sammy. I'm proud of you and Rebecca."

"Can you go back to the bar? I think I forgot to leave someone in charge and all hell is probably breaking loose."

"Of course I can. And they're all going to anxious to meet the Malone girls. And of course you have girls," she teased before leaving.

With one baby in his arm, Sam walked over to Rebecca's bed and sat down next to her, careful not to jostle her or the other baby. "They're so beautiful." She was in absolute awe of her daughters.

Sam kissed her forehead and then pulled back. "You're beautiful too."

"Thank you."

It wasn't easy to find names because of Sam's history with women but they settled on Sylvia Ellen and Dinah Penelope right before leaving the hospital.

* * *

They did not adjust easily to parenthood but they loved it and their daughters. "I never thought it'd be like this," he admitted to Rebecca one night after finally getting Sylvia and Dinah to sleep.

"Me neither. I'm glad we decided to have a baby together even though it didn't quite work out like we expected." She beamed, still in disbelief at how quickly her life had changed recently.

"Same here." He'd forever be grateful to Frederick for making him think about parenthood and deciding to go for it with Rebecca - she and the twins were the three most important women in his life (Carla didn't even complain - much - about being bumped a few slots). "Love you, Rebecca."

"Love you too, Sam."

And then the chaos started all over again when Sylvia started crying and proceeded to wake Dinah up.

* * *

Diane unexpectedly returned to _Cheers_ when the twins were seven months old. She did a double take when she noticed Sam holding Sylvia. "Yours?" she asked once he calmed down from the shock of seeing her.

"This is Sylvia," he answered with a grin as she started to babble. Rebecca joined them less than two minutes later, pushing Dinah in the double stroller. "This is Sylvia's sister, Dinah, and my girlfriend, Rebecca."

"Nice to meet you." Rebecca shook Diane's hand and her eyes widened when the blonde woman started to ramble about the benefits of parenthood. "Is she always like this?"

"Yes," Sam replied and left it at that.

"I'm just happy you've taken so well to fatherhood. It looks great on you," Diane told him.

Dinah started to wail and set off Sylvia in the process but Sam and Rebecca managed to calm them down faster than they thought they would. "It's really nice seeing you, Diane," Sam told her after the girls fell asleep.

"It was really nice to see you again too, Sam. I'm glad you were able to move on." Diane truly was happy for him.

"So am I."

And for the first time, both Sam and Diane were able to get closure for their relationship. He proposed to Rebecca with the twins' help and they married with their friends in attendance when the girls were ten months old. Sylvia and Dinah were joined by a younger sister, Keely Rebecca, just nine months later (everyone made fun of Sam for having all girls). Their last child - a boy named Jonah Samuel - joined the family two years after that. Sam and Rebecca never once regretted their choice to have a baby all those years ago because everything had worked out in their favor. They were happily married, still running _Cheers_ and had the best friends anyone could ever ask for.


End file.
